The Workers Union of Solomon Islands, WUSI, has reiterated its call on the Government to immediately deport the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA), describing him as a security risk to the Ports Authority and Solomon Islands.
In a press statement on Thursday WUSI General Secretary Tony Kagovai said, Mr Yow’s activities since becoming CEO at the beginning of this year appears to be designed to achieve two objectives.
“To get the favour and support of both the SIPA Board and the current Democratic Coalition for Change Government (DCC) as well as the support of the public through one-sided and misleading information provided by Yow to the media about what is happening at SIPA and its current dispute with SIPA workers.”
Mr. Kagovai said, that he strongly believes that as part of his strategy to win the support of the SIPA Board and the DCC Government, Mr. Yow flew out to Singapore the entire SIPA Board accompanied by the Minister for Infrastructure Development Stanley Sofu, and the Minister for Commerce, Industries, Labour and Immigration, William Marau, and their Permanent Secretaries.
“The delegation also included the Chairman of the Government Caucus, Jackson Fiulaua, and four senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Mr Kagovai added that he had been reliably informed that the trip to Singapore was to enable the Board to hold a meeting there and make a presentation on the Reform Programme at the Solomon Islands Ports.
Mr. Kagovai added that he was totally surprised and utterly amused to learn that the other objective of the trip to Singapore was to give the delegation the opportunity to study how the Private Public Partnership or (PPP) model is working in Singapore.
“You don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go and study the PPP model in Singapore, you just need to study amongst others, the PPP Model at the Town Grounds project, the NPF funded SMI, and the Tavanipupu NPF funding arrangement,” Mr. Kagovai said.
Mr. Kagovai also called on the media outlets in the country to cross check information provided to them by Yow to ensure that the information are factual and accurate.
He said what this paper reported that its understood under the first phase of the reform a number of workers have made redundant is not right.
“This is totally wrong because no workers at the Ports Authority had been made redundant except the sixteen union members sacked by Yow after WUSI and its members at SIPA decided to refer the dispute to the Trade Disputes Panel (TDP) rather than taking strike action.
“The High Court has since declared the sacking illegal and he is still locking out these workers up until now and it is totally sad that the Government appears to be ignoring the plight of these Solomon Islands workers and their families and support Collin Yow.”
Mr. Kagovai said that the reform programmes Yow had been talking about was for purposes his media propaganda and the truth is the programme Yow is talking about is total fiction and only fools believe him.
“The only reform programme on paper is the reform proposal formulated by an ADB scoping team in 2011 which the ADB report estimated to cost SIPA a total of SBD$1 million over the first year and a further SBD$10 million over the next ten years.
“Yow and his ten Singaporeans Consultant wantoks implemented the ADB proposed reform programme and spent SBD$29 million within a period of only 18 months between 2013 and December 20014,” Mr Kagovai said.